An estimated 15,556 workers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) will get PHP5,000 financial aid from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), an official said.

In an interview, Exequiel Roni Guzman, regional director of DOLE-CAR said the number of workers is based on the applications that their office received and have processed as of 5 p.m. of March 30.

“The PHP5,000 assistance is ready for release as soon as the central office downloads the fund,” Guzman said, adding that the amount is a one-time aid of the national government for affected workers.

The DOLE will spend PHP77.78 million financial aid to workers in the region affected by the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.

He said 946 enterprises have filed for assistance for some 16,482 workers.

Applications are received and processed every day.

He said the employers who filed for assistance range from small and micro enterprises with five to 10 workers, business process outsourcing (BPOs) offices, hotels, restaurants, service contractors, and contractors.

Guzman added that 2,407 workers in the informal sector in the region have availed of the “Tulong pangkabuhayan Para sa Disadvantaged/displaced (TUPAD) program of the department.

The emergency employment program, which is currently tagged “Buhay ko, barangay ko”, provides 10-day employment.

Workers are paid the prevailing minimum wage in the region. In Baguio, the minimum wage is PHP350 a day.

The TUPAD program is implemented by the local government units via the Public Employment and Services Offices (PESO).

He said DOLE offices continue to provide services operating with a skeletal force.

Guzman urged local government units to avail of the program for their constituents in the informal sector.

In Baguio, a total of 1,142 displaced workers, mostly taxi drivers from the 62 villages, have started working from March 29 until April 11, helping the barangays in their sanitation and clean and green programs, among others. (PNA)